Twitter Tip: Shorten Your Tweets & Make Them Re-Tweetable!

I really enjoy sharing content I know others would love to read on Twitter.

However, it’s disappointing when I hit the RT and the original tweet is too long. It pains me to have to edit, abbreviate and basically re-write the original tweet in order to re-tweet it effectively. Remember, you only have 140 characters.

Here’s the thing…if I have to edit or abbreviate your tweet, I’m probably not going to re-tweet it and neither will others.

So, if you condense your message, you’re much more likely to have it re-tweeted by your followers, which should increase your audience even more. In fact, you should really try to get the tweet to around 126 characters. Why not make it as easy as possible to re-tweet?

Sure, you can just hit the “retweet” button on Twitter, but my opinion is that it looks better if the RT comes from you.

Another thing…when you share someone else’s content, always re-tweet or use a “via @username.” Never grab the blog title and URL and post the tweet as your own. Cite the source and give credit where credit is due. It’s not your content.